second beast...i.e., the calf. Will the livestock suffer greatly in the end time?

come and see...This is another reference to the Church being taken up, the event that begins the first 1/2 of Daniel's 70th Week.

6:4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

red...meaning "of the earth, earthy." (Could "red" being synonymous with "communism" have any significance?)

Power will be given to Satan to cause the inhabitants of the earth to kill one another.

a great sword...i.e., great weapons of war.

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6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

third beast...i.e., man. This seal will really hit man where it hurts--his tummy.

Come and see...this refers again to the "little season." (See 6:1.)

black horse=spiritual darkness/physical malady (Job 30:30--dearth [i.e., scarcity, an inadequate supply] (Jer. 14:1-2).

pair of balances... Symbolic of trade. Used in olden times to measure silver and gold for exchange of merchandise.The rider of the black horse (Satan) will be in control of the world's economy.

6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

...in the midst of the four beasts...The famine will affect all of the life on the earth.

a measure of wheat...This was always a point of contention between God and the nation Israel. God commanded the Hebrews to always deal with full measures when they traded though they rarely obeyed in the matter.

three measures of barley...In Israel wheat flour was preferred over barley which often grows wild and lacks in taste. (In Bible times, the elite in their midst frowned on those who had to eat barley bread.) Prophetically, the measure of wheat and the three measures of barley are used to represent the two types of Israelites throughout the ages. The measure of wheat represents the "good Jews" of all ages with the faith of Father Abraham, while the three measures of barley stand for those Jews under the"beggarly elements" of the law--typified by the Pharisees who had Christ crucified. This will be the third time in as many ages wherein the "barley Jew" will represent Israel--the other two times being the time of their Visitation by their Messiah at the end of the Age of the Law, and the Tribulation Period at the end of our age. Both the "wheat" and the "barley" will be on the scene here at the end of the Kingdom Age, and if they follow the pattern of their predecessors, the barley will far out number the wheat and have the predominance.

a penny...used to translate denarins, a Roman unit of money equal to approximately a day's wages. This indicates that the Jews will be subject to Satan's stranglehold on the economy.

the oil and the wine... Although, like the wheat and the barley, these probably speak to a famine, the oil was also used to represent the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times while the new wine portrays His presence in the New Testament Church. Consequently, these representatives could serve to label the faithful Hebrews and Gentiles of the Kingdom Age. However, because of the time factor, we have problems applying the prophetic language. Remember, although the Bible gives the requirements that men and women had to meet to be accepted by Him in the ages preceding the Kingdom Age, we are not given these requirements for the Kingdom Age.